


Carved Into Your Skin

by tattooeddevil



Category: Dark Angel
Genre: Angst, Breeding Cult, Gen, Runes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-20
Updated: 2013-06-20
Packaged: 2017-12-15 13:59:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/850359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tattooeddevil/pseuds/tattooeddevil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Somehow, White getsb the jump on them. While trying to get away, Alec suddenly gets very, very sick and starts hallucinating. The cause? Fire branded runes, burning into his skin. Can they get out and save Alec?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Carved Into Your Skin

Logan was frowning at the monitor of his computer when Max walked into the small room Logan had confiscated and turned into his “office”. It was tiny, didn’t have a window or any other source of natural light and the rickety old chair had definitely seen better days. But Logan said he needed a place of his own for his research, and if they ever wanted a chance of getting Eyes Only back up, he would need the privacy to do it. There wasn’t a transgenic – or human – around that would rat Logan out when they found out he was Eyes Only, Logan just didn’t feel comfortable with too many people knowing. He couldn’t really explain why, but since no one really cared all that much whether Logan locked himself in the small room all day or not, and no one needed the space, so they just let it go.

“Hey.”

Logan startled, obviously so deep in thought he hadn’t heard Max come in, and swiveled the chair around to face her. His face was pale and the bags under his eyes had bags. A pang of worry shot through Max. “Wow, you look like shit.”

Logan scowled at her and turned back to his monitor, his back tense and strained. “Thanks Max, I needed a little put-me-down today.”

The snipe hit Max in the face hard and she automatically went on the defense. “Well, I’m sorry for caring about your ass.”

She was about to turn and leave again, her perfectly good mood now spoiled, when Logan sighed deeply and mumbled something she couldn’t hear.

“What?”

Logan sighed again and turned back to look at Max again. He smiled sheepishly, shrugged. “I’m sorry?”

Max cocked an eyebrow, still irritated by Logan’s outburst. “Are you asking me or telling me?”

Logan’s shoulders slumped, he rubbed the heels of his hands over his eyes. When he looked at Max again, there was genuine apology in them and Max felt the annoyance seep away.

“I’m sorry, Max. I am. I’m just really tired and I’ve been working too much and it’s just all been–“

Max held up a hand and shook her head with a sympathetic smile. “I know. Don’t worry about it. Any luck?”

Logan glanced at his monitors and Max followed his gaze. The pictures Logan had taken of the runes on her body were all displayed, several browser windows were open on different historical sites and a lengthy Word document listed all of Logan’s notes and translations. Max hoped Logan could make more sense of it all than she could, because it all looked like jibberish to her.

“No. Nothing more than we already have. The cloud of death and the savior.”

Logan looked Max up and down, and for a second she felt uncomfortable. Whatever there was still left between them, Max had no idea what it was or how to deal with it and Logan hadn’t made it any easier. After they barricaded themselves inside of Terminal City, after that moment on the roof when they had raised Joshua’s flag and Logan had grabbed her hand, he had avoided her for close to a week. And when she finally did manage to get him to stay in the same room with her, he had politely but insistently made clear he didn’t want to talk about it. It had left Max confused and hurt and she had no idea if they would ever get back what they had. If Logan even wanted to get back what they had.

But then Logan would look at her like he did now and she would be left wondering if Logan maybe wanted more than what he let on.

“It’s unfortunate they faded, I could have studied them closer in their original form.”

And then he would say something like that and Max’s hope was squashed like a bug. “Right.”

A sound dinged on one of Logan’s computers and he turned to the monitor, clicked a few windows open and closed until he found the one that had made the sound. Max waited until he was done, but when he hadn’t spoken to her or looked at her for ten minutes, she figured he had probably already forgotten about her. She left quietly, hurt and sad, made her way to command central. She could hear Mole and Alec arguing three corners away and when she had a visual on them, it turned out they were playing pool. Mole always cheated and Alec always knew, and without fail, they would get into it when Alec couldn’t take it anymore, but they never just called it quits. It was both amusing and exasperating at the same time.

Joshua was sitting in a big window, staring out and Max climbed up and settled on the other side of the window sill. “Hey big fella.”

Joshua smiled at her before staring back outside. “Hey little fella.”

“What’s wrong?”

Joshua huffed and nodded his head at the window. “Sun. I can see it, but only from inside. Can’t feel it.”

Max could understand that. It was easier for her and Alec and all the other X5’s, they could sneak out of Terminal City and go outside, but the Anomalies were trapped inside. There was no place for them to go on the outside, constantly hunted, no disguise clever enough to fully hide their appearance. She hadn’t really thought about it much, but now that she saw the sadness and desire on Joshua’s face, it hit her. She thought she had it difficult, but there were a lot of other Transgenics who had it even worse.

She shifted towards Joshua and leaned against his side. She rested her head against his shoulder and Joshua put an arm around her shoulders. For just one moment, in between all the madness and sadness, they found support in each other. “I’m sorry, Joshua. I wish I could do something.”

“Awww, isn’t that sweet?”

Alec’s teasing voice bursted their little bubble and Max glared at him. “What do you want, Alec?”

“Supply run. It’s a two man job. We need Logan’s car.”

Joshua perked up when Alec mentioned the supply run. “Can I come? I’ll wear the helmet, be the muscle. Please?”

Joshua’s earlier words still rang in Max’s ears and when Alec didn’t object, but merely shrugged, she elbowed Joshua softly and smiled at him.

“The muscle huh?”

Joshua blushed and grinned sheepishly. “Mole taught me. It means don’t think, just protect.”

Alec clapped Joshua on the shoulder with a smirk. “I can’t think of better muscle to have, big guy. Let’s go, time’s running out.”

Logan’s car was parked at Joshua’s old house; after the escape from Jam Pony they hadn’t been able to get it back to Terminal City yet, so they snuck out through the sewer tunnels and made their way to the house on foot. They got a few looks on their way, mostly because of Joshua’s helmet, but Alec started a loud monologue about stupid helmets and how he had told Joshua not to wear it, because it was too big and now he couldn’t get it off, and Max needed all of her willpower not to burst out laughing. Alec was a pain in the ass mostly, but he could be damn inventive when he wanted to. They weren’t fooling anyone, she knew that, not for long, but no one around them seemed in a hurry to call the police just yet. The Seattle police hadn’t taken the trouble of spreading their faces around the city - yet - and they would take advantage of that fact for as long as they could.

Half an hour later, they opened the doors to Logan’s car and got in. The car spluttered to life immediately when Alec put the key in the ignition and turned it, much to their relief. “Alright everyone, buckle up and let’s go.”

Alec easily maneuvered the car into traffic and down the street. From what Max could read off the list – “You have terrible handwriting, Alec, seriously” – they didn’t need to leave the sector, so they shouldn’t run into any problems, but that’s when Murphy’s Law kicked in. Just as she was thinking they would be back at Terminal City within the hour without issues, their whole world seemed to suddenly be engulfed by gunfire and screaming. Bullets shattered the windshield, too many voices were screaming for them to get out of the car, Alec’s door was yanked open roughly.

“Hello 494, nice to see you again.”

White pulled Alec from the car, momentarily losing his vision on Max and Joshua, and Max took the opportunity to push Joshua out the car. “Joshua, out! Get Alec, quick!”

As soon as Joshua was out of the car, he was on his feet and pulling White off Alec. He slammed White against the side of the car, wrapped one giant hand around his neck. The other was pressing against White’s chest and Max could hear him gasp for air. Max rounded the car and squeezed herself between Joshua and White to prevent Joshua from ripping the man’s head clear off. She put a soft, but firm hand on Joshua’s chest.

“I’ll handle this, Joshua, you get Alec.”

Joshua hesitated, rage clear on his face, a low growl rumbling through his chest and for a second, Max was actually a little scared of him. Joshua had become fiercely protective of his fellow transgenics - and human friends - since the show-down at Terminal City and Max certainly wasn’t strong enough to actually stop Joshua if he decided to go ahead and deal with White once and for all. She prayed she wasn’t put in the position of having to either, not sure if she would even try and stop Joshua. She didn’t want Joshua to have to deal with hurting anybody, let alone killing a person, but oh how she would love for White to get what he deserved. But several heartbeats later, Joshua relaxed his grip on White’s throat and took a step back. Max heard White take a few deep breaths before coughing and without turning around, she knew he was smirking.

“Call off your dog, 452. You’re outnumbered.”

She bit out a, “shut up!”, to White before nudging Joshua again. “Go, help Alec.”

Alec was half-sitting, half-lying on the floor a few feet away, rubbing the side of his head, blood on his fingers and a pained expression on his face. Max couldn’t see how bad it really was, but the fact he hadn’t already gotten up and helped Max and Joshua was information enough. Alec was hurt, bad, and when she glanced around, Max realized they were indeed surrounded and outnumbered by White’s men.

When Joshua let go of White completely, Max punched him in the gut, hard, ran for Joshua’s old house. “Come on!” She heard White’s “oof” and grinned when he was momentarily distracted from sicking his men on them. It bought Joshua and Alec just enough time to reach and join Max in the house and lock the door. Alec slumped against it and let himself slide to the floor, Joshua crouching down with him.

“Alec? Are you okay?”

With half an ear on Joshua and Alec, Max peered out through the small window next to the door to try and see what White was doing. She could see men in black suits running around with big guns, and others were getting the civilians out of the area. Covert operation then, they could work with that. White probably also didn’t call Seattle PD, so that took out the second obstacle for them to escape. Despite the shaky treaty they had with Detective Clemente, she was all too aware he couldn’t do jack squat to help them if they did show up. Not without risking his job and career, so for now she was glad he wasn’t there. All they had to do is come up with a plan to get out and back to Terminal City, without being taken out by White’s men.

“Nauseous. I don’t feel so-”

Alec couldn’t finish the sentence before he was throwing up all over the floor - thankfully to his other side and not all over Joshua or Max’s shoes. Panic slowly crept up Max’s throat; Transgenics don’t throw up, they don’t get sick enough. Something was very, very wrong with Alec. The only time she had ever seen a transgenic get sick, was when Manticore had “intervened”.

“Shit. Joshua, can you get Alec to the couch? And find a bucket for him, in case he gets sick more.”

Joshua nodded and waited for Alec to catch his breath before carefully helping him up. Alec grumbled something about not being a rag doll, but he made no move to get out of Joshua’s grip, so Max simply nodded at Joshua to go ahead and watched them leave to the living room. Whatever was wrong with Alec, Joshua would have to deal with it for now. She had to come up with an escape plan.

When she looked outside again, the streets were empty, except for the endless line of White’s men in black, all with their guns and rifles trained on the house. White himself was standing right in front of the house, looking grimly determined and smug. She really needed to come up with a good plan to get out of this situation. No way was White letting them go easily now.

“Max better come see.”

Joshua’s soft words pulled her from her thoughts and she frowned at him.

“Now? I’m trying to find a way out of here.”

But Joshua looked more serious - and maybe a little scared - than he ever had before.

“Max **really** needs to come see. Alec has drawings too, just like Max.”

She was about to ask Joshua what he meant with drawings, when a loud scream erupted from the living room, followed by gasps for air.

“Alec!”

Alec was clawing at his hands and arms, grunting with pain and frustration, and Max rushed to his side and pinned his hands down on the couch.

“Stop scratching, you’ll break skin.”

Alec squeezed his eyes shut, one tear slowly seeping from the corner of his eyes as he struggled against Max’s hold.

“They... hurt. Hurts. Get them... off.”

Alec was fighting against her hold too violently for Max to see the runes on Alec properly. She needed help.

“Joshua, can you help? Keep Alec still?”

Joshua looked unsure, as if he was afraid of Alec or afraid to hurt him, but Max really needed his strength to make sure Alec didn’t hurt himself.

“Please, Joshua, Alec needs your help.”

She felt bad for using Joshua’s protectiveness to force him past his hesitance, but Alec was strong, stronger than Max even sick, and she wasn’t sure if she could hold him down much longer. Thankfully, Joshua nodded and moved in to take her place. He wrapped his hands around Alec’s wrists and when Max moved out of the way, he climbed up on the couch and sat on Alec’s legs. Alec groaned at the contact and restriction and he actually bared his teeth at Joshua. Joshua winced and glanced at Max.

“Max?”

Max smiled reassuringly at him.

“He’s in pain, big fella, not angry at you.”

“Promise?”

“Promise. Now where are the drawings?”

Joshua nodded his head towards Alec’s arm, where he had been scratching.

“Hands, arms. Like Max.”

She crouched down next to the couch where Joshua was pinning down Alec’s hand and pushed his sleeve up a little. Sure enough, there they were. Brown runes, the same shape as Max’s, but there was something different. Max’s had been solid in color, but these had a bright red outline and yellow flecks all over them.

Just as Max reached out to softly touch one, a hoarse scream tore from Alec’s throat and the runes on his hand and arm lit up and started fuming. The smell of burnt flesh reached Max’s nose and she realized, to her horror, that Alec’s runes were not just runes.

They were fire brands.

And they were expanding.

She watched the runes appear higher and higher on Alec’s arms, until his sleeve got in the way and even Joshua was having a hard time keeping Alec still and on the couch. Alec was whining low in his throat, a pitiful sound that made Max’s heart ache for him. It sounded like pure, exhausted pain and agony and there was nothing she could do. She sat back on her heels to think for a second, when Alec suddenly went limp.

“Medium fella? Alec?”

Joshua looked at Max with a panicked look on his face.

“His eyes are gone. Alec’s eyes are gone.”

Max shot up. She didn’t know what Joshua meant exactly, but Alec’s eyes were actually still in their sockets. They were completely turned over though, the white of Alec’s eyes eerily staring up at them. She couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh of relief. Alec falling unconscious was bad, just one more sign of how bad, but it also meant he wasn’t fighting them and she could take a closer look at the runes.

******

_Bright hot pain courses through his body like lava. It burns his veins, his nerves, his flesh. The scent of burned skin reaches his nose, sharp, nauseating. It makes him gag. He can feel it force its way through him, from the tips of his fingers to the soles of his feet. It hurts. It hurts like nothing has ever hurt before. He wants to scream, yell, cry, but he can’t move. It is as if the lava has burned through the connections from his brain to his body, leaving him paralyzed, helpless, sinking away in searing hot pain until everything blacks out. He welcomes the darkness._

******

“Alec? Alec! Wake up, Alec, come on, please!”

Max shook Alec’s shoulders, but he wasn’t waking up. His body was twitching, tears were seeping from the corners of his eyes slowly and breathy, painful moans slipped from between his lips. She sat back on her haunches for a few seconds to think. White hadn’t made a move, yet, but she knew it wouldn’t long before he got a game plan together. They needed a way out, but with Alec out of commission--badly--they were severely in the disadvantage. She briefly considered leaving Alec, save what she could, but she knew she couldn’t do that. Not after everything--Ben--that had happened, and she was certain she wouldn’t be able to convince Joshua to leave his friend behind anyway.

“Didn’t say anything--”

Mumbled words reached her ears and she focused on Alec. He was shivering slightly, his lips moving around moans, forming words.

“Please don’t-- Wasn’t real-- Hurts-- Sorry--”

A raw, guttural moan was torn from Alec’s throat and he convulsed violently on the couch. Max yelled for Joshua, “Hold him down!”, and as Joshua climbed behind Alec and wrapped him in a tight embrace, limbs trapped against his body, she could see new runes appear on Alec’s skin. They burned bright red, boiling hot, under his skin before breaking out with a hiss and a flash of fire. Alec thrashed in Joshua’s hold, screams tearing from his lungs, and Max couldn’t do more but sit there and stare.

What the hell was going on? And how could she stop it?

“La-laser, no--Don’t--”

Joshua met her eyes over Alec’s thrashing figure, panic clear as day in them, but Max didn’t know what to do to comfort him. All she could do was watch with pain in her heart as Alec’s skin lit up with more and more runes, the smell of burnt flesh and hair filling the space around them. She had no idea what Alec was going through, or what was going on in his head, but she had a pretty good idea and she didn’t like it.

Manticore PsyOps.

“Rachel!”

Alec’s scream echoed through the room, leaving dead silence in its wake. Alec went slack in Joshua’s arms, the fire in the runes suddenly dying down and Max took a shaky breath. It looked like Alec was out for the count, and while she wanted nothing more than to help Alec through this, she knew they needed to be somewhere safer to deal with it all.

“Medium fella asleep?”

Max shook her head. “No, he passed out. Can you make him comfortable? I need to figure out how to get us out of here.”

******

_Dark brown eyes beckon him, a soft voice whispers in his ear to “touch me, please”. It soothes, warms, arouses. Rachel. He holds out his hand blindly, reaching out to her, so she can grab his hand. But she never does. When he opens his eyes to look at her, all that is left of his Rachel, his beautiful, sweet, kind Rachel, is her burning corpse. Her eyes have melted from their sockets, staring at him empty and black. He tries to pull his hand back, but he can’t move. He can’t move, he can’t breathe, he can’t get to her. He can only watch her crumble into ash in front of his feet, swept away by a breeze of air before the lasers burn his eyes and into his brain. He wants to scream, but he can feel the paralyzing drugs slowly spread through his body. It’s no use, she is gone._

******

Max found the cans of spray paint in one of the cabinets in the kitchen. It was the first remote useful thing she found in the house, the rest being stacks and stacks of paper, paint brushes and pelled wallpaper. The cans were half empty, but she could use them. All she needed was a dozen or so for a few seconds. She filled her arms with the cans and carried them to the living room where Joshua had climbed off the couch and settled in front of it, close to Alec’s head, looking worried.

“Is he still out?”

Joshua nodded. “Breathing okay.”

Max dropped the cans of paint on the table, turned to Joshua. “Do you know if there are any matches or a lighter around?”

Joshua got up and eyed the paint cans. He looked at Max with a puzzled expression on his face. “In the kitchen, gas not disconnected yet.”

Max nodded, thought for a few seconds. The plan was flimsy, but one glance outside told her she needed to act now or be captured by White. She quickly gathered a small pile of papers and handed them to Joshua. “Okay, here’s the plan. We light the papers and use them to set the cans of paint on fire. We throw them outside to create a smoke screen and run for the nearest sewer.”

Joshua took the papers and eyes the cans of paint again. “Set the paint on fire? How?”

“A little hole in the bottom, rip off the top, and it’ll burn for as long as there is air coming out of the can. We don’t have much time, and you need to carry Alec, but it’s the only plan I have. Can you do it?”

They both looked at Alec, who began to stir right then. Max could see the runes lighting up from where they were stood and she knew it was now or never. She jolted into action. “Okay, let’s do this before Alec gets too hard to handle.”

She grabbed her army knife from her pocket and quickly punched small holes in the bottoms of the paint cans. She rolled them all to the front door, before taking the burning papers from Joshua and breaking the glass pane next to the door, ignoring the whimpers coming from the livingroom for now. Joshua quickly followed her example and started lighting up cans and throwing them outside along with Max’s. White and his men were startled into action, but soon the colorful smoke screen obscured them from sight. Which meant that they were out of their sight too.

“Joshua, time to move! Go get Alec!”

Joshua shot up, disappeared in the other room, and returned with a struggling Alec in his arms. The by now familiar scent of burnt hair and flesh reached Max’s nose and she cringed at the implication of why it was familiar. “We need to get him out of here and to Logan. He might know what to do.”

Max had no idea why it hadn’t occurred to her to call Logan sooner, but now that his name was on her mind, she knew she needed to inform him of what was happening and what was coming his way in the form of a delirious, flailing Alec. Later though, they needed to get away from White first.

“Sewer just two houses away, Joshua can lead.”

Max nodded. “Stay behind me, I’ll cover you.”

She threw out a few more cans of spray paint, ripped open the front door and dashed out. There wasn’t time or opportunity to check if Joshua was behind her, she just had to trust he was while she threw random paint bombs to White’s men, sending up clouds of green, orange, red and yellow in all directions in an effort to confuse White. She could hear bullet flying by, hitting the wood of the house, but it seemed the men were randomly firing at the vicinity of the house. First part of the plan was a success.

“Max, down here!” 

Joshua’s voice came from her left and she made a sharp turn towards him. Joshua was standing at a sewer cap with Alec struggling in his arms. “Quickly, Alec getting sick again.”

The colorful smoke was still billowing behind them, blocking the view from across the street, but Max knew White’s men would be on top of them sooner rather than later and Alec was whimpering louder with every passing second. Max could see his face contort painfully, the muscles in his neck were pulled taut and he was grinding his teeth, small sounds slipping through his clenched teeth. Her heart skipped a beat, thinking about the pain Alec was in, and it was enough to jerk her into action again.

She crouched down and lifted the sewer cap with every bit of strength she had. It was a small opening and Joshua had to put Alec on the ground to climb in first, leaving him propped up against Max until he was down enough to take him from her. Alec’s skin felt clammy, sweaty, hot to the touch and Max realized he was burning up all over, not just the runes on his skin. His teeth were chattering and there were pained words falling from his lips again. She couldn’t understand him completely, but some she recognized from her own trips through the Manticore system.

_Disobedience_

_Punishment_

_Betrayal_

_Discipline_

_Dishonor_

_Correction_

Alec’s body trembled with every uttered word, as if he could feel them physically. His hands were balled into tight fists, blood seeping from the palms where his nails were digging in. There was no time to try and console Alec now, Joshua was already reaching up for Alec and Max could see the cloud of smoke separating them from White, dissipating quickly. She handed Alec off to Joshua and slid in after them, pulling the sewer cap into place as best as she could.

She jumped down to the ground of the sewer and followed Joshua down the tunnels. She could hear Alec’s groans and whimpers coming from Joshua;s arms and at a particular pained grunt, Joshua;s pace faltered and Max had to push him forwards to keep him moving. “Keep going, big fella, no time to stop now.”

Joshua met her eyes briefly, looking desperate and sad, but no matter how badly she wanted to stop and see if Alec was alright, they had to get to Logan and the relative safety of Terminal City. As they made their way through the tunnels, she took out her phone and dialled Logan. Thankfully, he picked up immediately and without saying hello or waiting for Logan to greet her, she started to relay the story to him and what they needed.

“White ambushed us, but we got away. In the sewers now, making our way to you. Alec’s hurt, same runes as me, only nastier. I don’t know why or how, but he;s in bad shape and needs your help. We’re about five minutes out I think, can you wait for us at the east side, near the old bakery?”

Logan hesitated only a second, before simply answering with a “yes, I’ll be there” and hanging up. Max wanted to kiss him.

The only downside to being in the sewer tunnels, was that she had no idea what was happening up top. Was White on to them? Were they chasing them down above, to Terminal City? Were they still at the house looking for them? She couldn’t hear anything down with them, but quickly scurrying away rats and dripping water, but that didn’t mean anything, she knew that. But when they reached the tunnels east of Terminal City without being chased down or shot at, she dared to slow down a little and think ahead.

Alec was full on screaming now, again, his skin burning with fresh runes. It saved Max from calling out to Logan, he was already halfway down the pipe, coming for the noise, when they rounded the corner. “Max! Over here!”

Max felt a wave of relief wash through her at the sight of help. She hadn’t realized how scared she was with confusion over what was happening to Alec staring her in the face, until she saw Logan jump to the ground and rush for Joshua and Alec. “Logan!”

She barely resisted the urge to hug him, throw herself into his arms and kiss him senseless. Instead, she focused on Alec, who was clawing at Joshua’s arms, moaning brokenly to “just make it stop”. Logan looked at Max, then at Alec, with a shocked expression on his face. “What happened?”

Logan pushed Joshua to the ladder up the sewer pipe, “Can you lift him up there?”, before looking at Max questioningly.

“I have no idea. One minute we’re being ambushed by White and the next Alec is throwing up and runes appear on his skin like fire brands. Actual brands, Logan, not at all like mine. They appear and disappear after a few minutes, sometimes longer. They hurt him, bad, but I have no idea what to do.”

Logan caught on to her distress and he put a hand on her arm. Max nearly flinched away, but Logan squeezed her arm and drew her attention to him. “Take a breath, Max, we’re gonna figure this out, okay?”

She took a few shaky, steadying breaths and nodded. It didn’t help much, Logan’s presence was more comforting than stale sewer air right now, but she appreciated the effort. She really wanted to go after Joshua and check on Alec though.

“Can you help?”

Logan smiled hesitantly. “I can try?”

Max nodded, gestured for him to climb up first, and quickly followed. Joshua had laid Alec down on a table in what they had set up as the medical room. He was deadly still, and for a second Max was afraid for Alec’s life. But when she looked closer, his chest was still rising, and the runes were gone. Alec had passed out again.

******

_He’s not sure where he is, but his head is pounding and his hands are shaking. He can’t feel anything from the waist down, as if he doesn’t have legs anymore. He is afraid to look down and see it is true. There’s a faintly familiar smell, which clues him in with a bang when he identifies it. Manticore. Panic overtakes him, his senses, and all he wants is to get away, get out. He manages to lift his head and open his eyes to look around, but everything is white and blinding. He closes his eyes again and focuses on his body. Struggle free, get out of the invisible bonds that tie him down, but it is no use. The steady beat in his head, his ears, gets louder, until it is all he can hear, see or feel. It is as familiar as the smell, the words drummed into him like tattoos. Disobedience. Punishment. Betrayal. Discipline. Dishonor. Correction. Only now it is happening to him, not just a lesson anymore. He gives in, gives up, tips his head back and takes it._

******

Logan barely had his hands on Alec, when Alec convulsed violently and started shaking so bad his teeth were rattling. Joshua stepped in and held down Alec’s arms as best as he could. Alec didn’t make a sound, apart from his head slamming back against the hard surface of the table, until Logan got a hand under it. He yelled for something to put under Alec’s head and Max quickly stripped off her hoodie and handed it to Logan. Logan propped it under Alec’s head, before taking an unsure step back and staring at Alec helplessly. Max knew how he felt.

They were drawing a little crowd of concerned Transgenics, but no one knew what to do. It was OC who came flying in with a bottle of Tryptophan. “I know it’s probably not gonna help, but it;s worth a shot, right?”

Logan eyed Max, and Max shrugged. It couldn’t hurt anything. She doubted it would do anything against the runes, the hallucinations, the pain, but at that point, she would try just about anything to help Alec. Aided by Joshua, Logan held Alec down and forced a handful of pills down his throat. There was no milk around, but someone had a large glass of water that spilled more down Alec’s neck than in his mouth, but Logan got the pills down. There was a long moment of frozen silence, where everybody stared at Alec with wide, worried eyes, and then Alec started shaking violently again.

This time, it was not like before. Max recognized the shakes from a mile away, and this is just that. No runes, no hallucinations of Manticore torture, no bad memories surfacing. The shakes. She almost laughed with relief. The shakes she knew, she could handle. The shakes, they could treat.

It took fifteen minutes for the Tryptophan to kick in. Fifteen long, agonizing minutes of trying to keep Alec warm and comfortable. Alec didn’t wake up, but instead fluttered his eyes open, stared at Max, and promptly fell in a deep, drug-induced sleep. Then, Max laughed. It was a relieved, almost hysterical laugh, and it sounded manic even to her own ears. OC caught her eye and Max shook her head with a chuckle. “Man, that was close. I think I almost lost it right now.”

OC pulled her into a hug and squeezed her tightly. “No losing it, sister, not now. Alec needs your help.”

Max pulled back and nodded at her best friend. “Yeah. Speaking of which, I need to talk to Logan about Alec. Keep an eye on Alec? And Joshua?”

They glanced at the table Alec was still lying on, Joshua hovering nearby like a mother hen. OC smiled. “Will do, boo. Go.”

Max made her way to Joshua and wrapped her arms around his waist for a quick hug. “Let me know if the runes come back, big fella. I’m gonna go help Logan, okay?”

Joshua nodded briefly before turning back to Alec’s prone form, taking OC’s hands when she sidled up next to him. Max smiled at the protective picture they posed before making her way to Logan’s office. Logan was already hunched over his computers, frantically typing away and Max had a sharp flashback to that morning. The only difference was that they now had a common project, common questions to be answered, something to fix together, and maybe it would help them find each other again too.

The End


End file.
